


i shut my eyes and the world drops dead

by smallredboy



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Autistic!Chiyoh, F/F, Math and Science Metaphors, Post-Canon, Pre-Femslash, Therapy, or an attempt at them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:49:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27465961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallredboy/pseuds/smallredboy
Summary: Chiyoh struggles with socializing.
Relationships: Chiyoh/Bedelia Du Maurier
Kudos: 10
Collections: Froday Flash Fiction Little & Monthly Specials 2020, Ladies Bingo 2020, femslashficlets: tarot prompt challenge





	i shut my eyes and the world drops dead

**Author's Note:**

> **femslashficlets tarot table:** The Hermit  
>  **ladies bingo:** relativity  
>  **fffc's 100th special:** silence
> 
> enjoy!

Chiyoh still isn't quite used to not being alone.

It's strange, to have people around her once again, when all she knew for so long was complete solitude. Her life was an uncomplicated cycle of feeding herself, feeding her captive, bathing, rinse and repeat for years upon years. Now that she's freed, she doesn't know how to act, how to behave herself among all these people.

The person she falls onto for help is probably one she shouldn't. But she needs someone who understands what she's gone through, even if only a little. And who better than Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier? She knew Hannibal intimately, and her prosthetic leg was a testament to it. What she knew and how she paid for it.

"Could you teach me how to... how to _be_?" she asks. "How to act? I still haven't quite figured it out. Society is confusing."

Bedelia laughs. "You and me both," she says. "But I can try to teach you. Walk you through social situations, all of that."

She nods. "I'd appreciate that."

It's like gravity pulls her closer to those people that _understand_ , that have gone through the same things she has gone through, although in different levels, in different gravities. Relativity and all, pulling her toward them.

"It's not easy," Bedelia says, standing up. Her prosthetic leg is obvious, her having no qualms with showing off that she was _marked_. Chiyoh likes that. She likes that in a person, a lot. She wants to be normal, while Bedelia resists every notion of being normal. "But I think I know enough to give you a few tips."

Relativity is about warping space, or something. Chiyoh doesn't quite get it, having read science books left by the Lecters when she got bored. But what she does know is that Hannibal has warped the space around him, having turned everything upside down, and all that is left is the people touched by his presence to pick up the pieces. Alana, Margot, Bedelia, Molly and her, among innumerable others, of course. She's met the other women touched, one way or another, by Hannibal's presence--- they're a sad bunch, but they're working things out.

"Something my patients used sometimes," Bedelia starts. "Are scripts, for certain social situations. It's especially common among autistic patients, as they don't quite know social rules and expectations, don't understand them as well." She smiles. "I'm not saying you may be autistic, but I am saying that a tool people on the spectrum use may help you and your specific situation."

She smiles. "Thank you." A pause. "Could you guide me through, um..." She's a bit embarrassed about such a simple thing, why she struggles with something so easy. She's learnt a lot of things from solitude, how to take care of herself and her home, but it is also the misfortune of it. She knows how to take care of herself, how to keep herself entertained, but little else. "Buying something? I've kind of figured out online shopping, but I just freeze up when dealing with in person discussion."

Bedelia nods. "Of course. That's always hard to figure out, especially in your situation. Let's see. So, you bring what you're going to buy, right? And then..."

Chiyoh's world, and so many others', has been warped by Hannibal. But being pulled toward Bedelia isn't all that bad.


End file.
